Export feature service with attachments!!!!

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01-30-2013 10:57 AM
MikeBell
New Contributor III
Our ArcGIS Online credits are dropping fast...and it appears to be a direct result of the photo attachments on one of our feature services (about 2000 photos).

Can you let me know when this functionality will be available?

Has anyone tried to script this?

We want to move the whole lot (feature service and photos) to our own server however doesn't look like it'll be happening for a while!

Mike
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15 Replies
MikeMinami
Esri Notable Contributor
There are no export tools currently for attachments. You could write your own code against the REST API to extract the attachments.  As far as having an out-of-the-box solution, there are still no current plans. Not that we won't do it, but it's not scheduled in the near term.

Thanks,

Mike
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MikeBell
New Contributor III
Thanks Mike

So should I do this in Python in ArcGIS?

Is a real pain I'm having to do this at all tbh - we're already finding ArcGIS Online limiting but now it's becoming expensive.

Mikw
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JonathanQuinn
Esri Notable Contributor
You should be able to create a local copy for editing from your feature service, go into the Attachment Manager, and Save All attachments somewhere local.  I haven't tried this but it may work.
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MikeBell
New Contributor III
Thanks

We have captured 3500 photos against 1400 records so doing manually is not an option....yet.

I had a quick look at python - doesn't look like it is possible.

Any suggestions?

Mike
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DenizSaglam
New Contributor
Is there any solution to export attachments?
Exporting as a shapefile is lame!
if attachments are not downloaded, why would we use online ?
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WoodyBailey1
New Contributor III
There are no export tools currently for attachments. You could write your own code against the REST API to extract the attachments.  As far as having an out-of-the-box solution, there are still no current plans. Not that we won't do it, but it's not scheduled in the near term.

Thanks,

Mike


I second the response of another who asks if the attachments are not exportable why would we want to use online? Again you make an app called collector to collect data that can't be extracted? Seems short sighted to me, then to respond that adding that there are no current plans to add the capability??? Any collector app should collect data ready to be exported to the format you want. In the ArcGIS online there are lots of export formats in the analysis tab but the export geodatabase ignores the attachments altogether.
I even looked in the service .sd file and saw the attachment table and relationship class but they appear empty. The attachments work great with the online apps. But any attempt to see them outside fails. I hope someone has developed a script or something to help with this, or better yet ESRI makes it a priority and makes it work. Attachments are a pretty good idea, especially via the relationship class within the geodatabase... just can't help but wonder why can't I get at it???
I CAN'T EVEN SEE THEM WHEN I ADD MY SERVICE FROM ARCGIS ONLINE TO ARCGIS DESKTOP. I can see the files and their size, but when I try to open them OR (as also suggested by an ESRI rep on this forum) SaveAS... i get zilch... See my attached figure it shows all of my problems clearly in an annotated screen shot. I hope its all just something I have overlooked.[ATTACH=CONFIG]26441[/ATTACH]
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CadeFurnas
New Contributor II
As mentioned above, just create a local copy of your feature service for editing. It will create a geodatabase with a feature class exported from the feature service. Then, all of your photos will be stored as attachments in your local geodatabase. Once your photos are stored locally, at attachments in the feature class, you can then delete the records from the feature service if you want.
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PaulLohr
Occasional Contributor III
Our ArcGIS Online credits are dropping fast...and it appears to be a direct result of the photo attachments on one of our feature services (about 2000 photos).

Can you let me know when this functionality will be available?

Has anyone tried to script this?

We want to move the whole lot (feature service and photos) to our own server however doesn't look like it'll be happening for a while!

Mike


Ask ESRI to export your ArcSDE table or database to a format that you can import to your DBMS. You'll want the attachments table and the parent feature class.

If you are working with SQL Server, the link below will get you started towards exporting the images from the DBMS.

http://www.sqlusa.com/bestpractices/imageimportexport/

Not quite sure, but you might even get the attachment and feature tables as gdb or mdb files. That could work if the photo attachments are converted to BLOB format.
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WoodyBailey1
New Contributor III
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As mentioned above, just create a local copy of your feature service for editing. It will create a geodatabase with a feature class exported from the feature service. Then, all of your photos will be stored as attachments in your local geodatabase. Once your photos are stored locally, at attachments in the feature class, you can then delete the records from the feature service if you want.
***************

I thought that was what I was doing, as my screen shot was trying to show. I will go back and see if there was something I missed. Thank you for the response... Curious it appears your response was deleted?? Why is that? I found Attachment management tools in the toolbox under "Data Management Tools"-"Attachments" however I do not see anything that would help. Perhaps someone can link me to an explanation to "Create a Local Copy of my feature service" again as shown in my screen shot I have a geodatabase that shows the attachments they just are empty files.
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